I recently attended a convention and played two D&D roleplaying sessions. Despite some reservations I greatly enjoyed myself, got to meet some great people, and had my best roleplaying moment thus far.

Adventuring in the Sea of Dread was the theme. Pirates, Uncharted Lands, and most importantly Adventure. I played a glory-seeking Mage by the name of Chiaro. He wielded a broken musket as his quarterstaff, firing his spells from the muzzle. He was eager to make a name for himself, and set out for the New World.

His first adventure involved a not-so-abandoned ship occupied by goblins, a destroyed ship, and an island with a mystical relic and were-shark on it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend this session in it's entirety, but the crew managed nonetheless.

In the second adventure Chiaro, a few allies from the previous, and more new faces traveled deep into the jungle to plunder the Temple of the Dead God. Chiaro was instrumental in helping the group advance, but he wasn't necessarily right. He was confident in his choice of which two sigils would open a stone entrance, objecting to a rope that another ally tied around his waist. He was saved from a spiky death by this rope. He tested pillars for traps using his heirloom musket, and detected a pattern, leaping to a pillar without testing it. A new face pulled him to safety just in time. And a pair of pants made out of a barrel (Don't ask) reinforced by Chiaro for another ally jammed another integral pillar

The group had come to another impasse. A pair of statues that when approached would deploy their blades to block the path forward. The Dungeon Master made all magic users roll a knowledge check to see if they could discern something about this obstacle. The only other magic user rolled lower, I rolled the lowest. I rolled a 1, a critical failure. This would be the turning point for the most fun I've had roleplaying.

The Dungeon Master informed me that Chiaro had seen this trap before, and knew that to pass it safely one must merely close your eyes, take three breathes, and stride confidently through. No party members would take my advice and they began formulating ways to simply tear down the statues. Chiaro was confident in his knowledge, closed his eyes, took three breaths, and strode confidently through. Chiaro was immediately cut into four separate pieces by the statues.

The room was filled with gasps, but I had the biggest grin on my face. I had essentially walked my character to his death. Many players in the room were new, and didn't understand why I would simply let my character die. Chiaro was confident, cocky even, he knew that this was the way through the obstacle and he was going to prove it. The point of roleplaying was not to live, but to have fun, and I was having fun.

The party tore down the statues and scooped up Chiaro's remnants for a proper burial. They came upon a pair of thrones and utilized some stone from the broken statue and, having found another use for Chiaro, unceremoniously dumped Chiaro's corpse on the other throne. Chiaro's blood seeped into the stonework, and revealed a darkness that could not be penetrated. The darkness of the Dead God.

At this point the Dungeon Master went to each individual and whispered promises of power in exchange for servitude. All refused, except for Chiaro, who was promised new life. Chiaro's corpse reassembled itself as dark ichor oozed from his mouth and eyes. Before Chiaro could fulfill his task of slaying all his former members the party cleric, Kaida, stepped forward. The cleric who Chiaro had survived a destroyed ship with, the same ally who had anchored him to the rope earlier. The cleric began to bless Chiaro, and succeeded in three consecutive rolls against me. Just as quickly as Chiaro had arisen in darkness, he was redeemed in light.

At this point Chiaro was resurrected, with a bit of the darkness still remaining forever in his soul. His alignment changed from Chaotic to Lawful, and he would begin multiclassing as a cleric. Chiaro fought the now revealed Dead God with his musket firing silvery blades, rather than his regular icy blue arcane energy. Chiaro and the party were able to slay the Dead God handily with no other losses and reap their rewards. That is were the session ended.

There's so much more fun little moments with this character and session. This was just the most interesting and proud moment for myself. Willfully playing out that critical failure was such an amazing moment as a role-player. I want to thank all the players and the Dungeon Master for playing with me. And thanks for reading!